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ADDRESSES 


1 
1 


DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE 

• 


iiit 


WINONA, MINNESOTA 

BY 


1 



EDWARD D. NEIDD 

Chancellor of University, ex-off. Sup. of I'lUtrudion. 



JOTlls^ OG-DEN, A. M 

Principal of the School.' 



A. H E P» O H T 



ON THE COURSE OF INSTRUCTION, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS. 



■PUBLISHED BY- THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE. 



SAINT PAUL : 
PIONEER PRINTING COMPANY 

1860. 



ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED AT THE OPENINa OF THE 

hit ^atmnl ^t^aaU 

WINONA, MINNESOTA, 



BY 



Chancellor of University, ev-off. /S«ijj\ of Instruction. 



AKD 



j^OHisr oa^33E]sr, a. m 

Principal of the School. 



WITH 



A. REPORT 

ON THE COURSE OF INSTRUCTION, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS. 



PUBLISHED BY THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE. 



SAINT PAUL : 
PIONEER PRINTING COMPANY. 

1860. 



^^A^ 






At a meeting of the Normal School Board, held in the Office of 
Public Instruction, St. Paul, Nov. 1st., 1860, the Prudential Com- 
mittee were directed to print the accompanying documents. 

In publishing the pamphlet, they would express a wish that the 
members of the Legislature, friends of education, and all citizens 
to whom it may be forwarded, will give it an attentive perusal. 

In the Inaugural Address a few typographical errors will be 
noticed by the critical, which were unavoidable, in consequence of 
the distance of Prof. Ogden from the press, preventing his personal 
supervision. 

W.S.Drew,) ^'~^^^^- 
Winona, December, 1860. 



Gift. 



.teBs bg ^toarir 1. SnIL 



With returning prosperity, the State enters upon a new and 
honorable career. The past decade was truly inglorious, and the 
Commonwealth in the retrospect finds neither moral nor intellect- 
ual achievement worthy of the gaze of the civilized world. 

Carried away with the impious thirst for riches, men to a cer- 
tain extent, forgot their obligations to society and posterity, and 
strained every nerve for self-aggrandizement. 

Subdued by the chastisement of a kind Providence, it is begin- 
ning to be perceived that no individual can prosper in a commu- 
nity which neglects to foster institutions of modern civilization, 
and that in building up the character of the Commonwealth, the 
interests of each locality are enhanced. 

The Constitution of the State declares that " there shall be a 
general and uniform system of Public Schools. " 

As introductory to the opening of an institution under the pat- 
ronage of the State, let us glance at the necessity and value of 
Public Instruction. 

The family organization is insufficient to educate the whole peo- 
ple. Admirable as it may be in some instances, it cannot influence 
many beyond the fireside. In the majority of cases, however, it is 
seen that instruction is not imparted at home, for a want of time, 
inclination, or ability. 

The farmer possessed of no early advantages, and obliged to 
work for the subsistence of his family from before the rising of 
the sun, until the night is far advanced, will never make much 



4 

provision for the mental culture of his children, and if it depends 
upon his exertions, the neighborhood will only increase in ignor- 
ance. 

Nor can the Church in a Republican State, educate the people. 

In former days, before Christian liberty was fully understood, 
there was a union of Church and State, and the latter entrusted to 
that branch of the Church with which it was in sympathy, the ed- 
ucation of youth. 

In Geneva there were parochial schools established for the 
masses, which were copied by Scotland, and subsequently intro- 
duced into New England. As long as a people were homogeneous 
in faith and public sentiment, such a system worked advantage- 
ously, because it could impart not only a complete education for 
this world, but in addition, a direct spiritual culture in view of a 
future existence. But in a Eepublic such a system cannot pre- 
vail, for here is tolerated every shade of religious belief and poli- 
tical opinion, and in every community are found representatives, 
not only of different political schools, but also of various branches 
of the Church. Should popular education be entrusted by govern- 
ment to any particular branch, it would soon be viewed with dis- 
trust, and ultimately decline. 

By the peculiar constitution of American communities. Public 
Instruction necessarily devolves upon the State. And it is truly 
refreshing to the Christian philanthropist, to observe the reverence 
with which she has undertaken the work. 

Modern jurisprudence being largely based upon the ethical sys- 
tem of Moses, and the precepts of the great expounder of Mosaic 
law, the mysterious Nazarene, the God-man, the wonderful Son of 
Mary, the State has ever recognized the importance of employing 
teachers who believe in a Divine Being, and inculcate by precept 
and example the decalogue. 

The value of this Public Instruction cannot be too frequently 
reiterated. 

First. It represses vice and crime. Idleness and ignorance are 
the prolific sources of disorder. For the encouragement of both, 
despite all the restraints of law, there are schools of instruction in 
every community. To attract pupils, they are made as seductive 
as possible, and around them the indolent herd as insects around a 
confectionery. In those communities where there is not a uniform 



system of public schools, there are numbers who will not make an 
effort to obtain education for their offspring. From the hour they 
can walk, the ''little ones" are permitted to go where an idle curi- 
osity or love of excitement directs. In large cities, the whole day 
is passed in lounging around the wharves or depots of travel, 
while during the night they herd among the vile in the pit of a 
theatre or prowl around the streets, the "Artful Dodgers" and 
"Jack Shepherds" of Dickens and Ains worth. 

When the State, however, feels the responsibility of providing 
teachers and school-houses for the instruction of every child, then 
idleness and crime languish. Those who under other circumstances 
would have wiled away their time in making mischief, seek for the 
instructive and healthful excitement obtained from the mastery of 
the studies allotted by the teacher. They become acquainted with 
the first attempts, and subsequent events of great men ; their self- 
respect is aroused ; they long to become honored among their fel- 
low citizens ; and when they have left the common school, they 
have too much pride to seek the porch of a common tavern, and 
spend the day in lounging upon the bench listening to low jokes, 
or witnessing deeds of lawlessness. On the contrary, to those 
who have been properly trained, it is painful work to stand idle 
all the day long in the market-place. The statistics of crime show 
that those taught in our public schools, comparatively seldom find 
the house of shame or the home of the convict. Three-fourths of 
the inmates of the penitentiaries are those that have had meagre 
educational advantages. 

In repressing vice it Sewndly — Increases wealth. Among the 
heavy burdens of a populous State, is the support of paupers and 
criminals. 

We have just shown, that by a diffusion of knowledge, the 
sources of supply to the prison and alms-house are much ex- 
hausted, and thus the tax to support pauperism and kindred insti- 
tutions, is largely diminished. Abundant experience proves, that 
the multiplication of public schools is the cheapest police arrange- 
ment of a large city. Every dollar expended in the erection of 
school edifices, and payment of salaries of teachers, is a saving to 
the State of twice that sum in the treasury which defrays police 
and criminal expenses. 



But Public Instruction also increases the wealth of a commu- 
nity, because thereby more, work is done. 

An educated mechanic is a very different being from a slave 
whose mind is almost as dull as the brute. He takes an intelli- 
gent view of life, and perceives that it is better for him and his 
employer to be punctual and steady, and perform as much work 
as possible. He desires as few holidays as are consistent with 
health, and takes recreation in order that he may work the more. 
Thus by an efficient system of schools, the State transforms into 
producers, a large class who would otherwise be non-producers. 
When the State instructs her people, the long lines of beggars 
that are seen in some of the highways that lead to the large cities 
of Italy, and who literally besiege the traveler for alms, to enable 
them to lead a life of indolence, are missing, and in their places 
are witnessed long lines of day laborers, with ruddy faces and 
brawny arms, earnestly at work building the rail way or quarry- 
ing the rock, and full of hope that the day is not far distant, when 
they shall retire and cultivate a farm in some fertile spot, in the 
vicinity of the roads they assisted to build. 

Not only is more, but letter work done, where the public school 
exists. 

He who has not been waked up by the school, takes but little 
interest in his labor and, if an operative in a factory, performs his 
allotted task with about the same amount of intelligence as the 
spindle. But by education the taste is cultivated and judgment 
improved, and the artizan not only desires to perform his task, but 
to make his work as tasteful as possible. 

If a glass blower, he will fashion a flower vase in the shape of 
a tulip, and then display his ingenuity in tinting the glass, until 
in beauty it rivals the lily of the field, that some fair hand may 
subsequently place therein. 

The beautiful form of modern house-hold utensils, are rich 
proofs of the superiority of the intelligent over the uneducated 
operative. There are numerous articles in every mechanical exhi- 
bition, whose lustre, composition and arrangement betray an inti- 
mate knowledge of the principles of chemistry and mechanics. 

While popular education increases the number of inventions, it 
tends to simplify the work of life. In proportion as the State 
makes an outlay for the culture of her sons, do they in time repay 



her in the construction of instruments and the discovery of ne# 
processes which increase the wealth and reputation of the land. 

But if there were other ways of repressing vice and increasing 
wealth, we remark — Thirdly. That Public Instruction creates a 
national sentiment. 

At all periods America has been a refuge to those oppressed by 
political or religious tyranny. Here Penn, weighed down by the 
formality, hypocrisy and extravagance of a licentious court, and 
tired of the wranglings concerning the externals of religion, found 
a quiet home by the banks of the wide and shady Delaware, where, 
with none to molest or make him afraid, he could dress as he saw 
fit, and speak as the spirit and when the spirit moved him. Here 
the cultivated and polished Calvert, cramped by the exactions of 
the British Government, found a place on the shores of the broad 
and beautiful Chesapeake, where he could repeat his "Ave Maria " 
and "Pater Noster," with all the freedom and fervor of the most 
devoted follower of the Pope ; and here on the rocky coast of 
Plymouth, those wearied of the tyranny of Laud and the corruption 
of what they supposed was only the half-reformed Church of Eng- 
land, sang praises to the Most High, read the sublime psalms of 
David, expounded the Sacred Writings, and trained up their child- 
ren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and formed a New 
England after their own model, which in time has become renown- 
ed as old England. 

Since the political agitation in Europe engendered by the French 
Revolution, and the confederation of the Colonies under a written 
constitution, the tide of emigration in a steadily increasing vol- 
ume, has surged over the Western Continent. It is no infrequent 
occurrence in towns that have sprung up within a few years, in 
the valley of the Upper Mississippi, wholly unknown to the geo- 
grapher and citizen of older States, to behold grouped together 
men from every nation under Heaven, and to hear languages as 
diverse as were heard in Jerusalem on a festal day, when the 
streets of the Holy City were thronged with, " Parthians, and 
Modes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in 
Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pam- 
phylia, in Egypt, and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strang- 
ers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. " 

The contemplative German, the mercurial Frenchman, the blue- 



8 

eyed Hibernian, the hardy Norwegian, the brawny Highlander, 
the reserved Englishman, the dark-eyed Italian, are all found upon 
the prairies of the West, who but a few months before were dwell- 
ers in European Capitals, and accustomed to the sight of royalty 
and its many appendages. 

Th6se new comers are people of many prejudices ; many yet 
love their father-land, and when they think of their old homes be- 
yond the seas, sigh and wish that they could have procured there, 
bread enough to afford them a subsistence. Others while hating 
the governments that have driven them away by their oppression, 
or exiled them for the free thoughts to which they have given ex- 
pression, have no real love for that particular form of government 
to obtain which our forefathers sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 
Now we assert that without an efficient system of public in- 
struction, the offspring of the emigrant would grow up with the 
peculiar prejudices their parents imbibed in distant lands. Our 
people would have no homogeneousness. There would be no 
proper national sentiment, and in many places not even instruc- 
tion in the English language. The State, by planting a school in 
the midst of such a community as we have portrayed, works won- 
ders in the twinkling of an eye. 

By taxing all the property of a community it readily supports a 
school when the Norwegian, or German, or Irish, or French portion 
of the community would be wholly unable. The State, moreover, 
strives to furnish means to aid in employing a teacher that is com- 
petent to instruct the children of the neighborhood, in the elements 
of good citizenship. In the Public School, the pupil learns to read 
the History of the United States ; his youthful and comparatively 
ingenuous heart burns within him as he hears the tale of our 
country's wrongs ; he is almost breathless as he pores over the 
account of the scenes that led to the Declaration of Independence. 
With the character of Washington he is perfectly enchanted, and 
thinks that he is the best man that ever lived. When he is out of 
school he still thinks about those things he has read, or heard 
from his classmates whose grandfathers perhaps had fought those 
very battles. When he is around the winter fireside he tells these 
incidents to his parents and his younger brothers and sisters, and 
during the night his sleep is broken by dreams about the suffer- 
ings of the soldiers at Valley Forge, or some similar tale of war. 



9 

While he plays with his school mates, he also learns the sotigs 
of the Eepnblic, and though his parents may for "Auld-lang syne" 
sing " God save the King, " he knows nothing better or more in- 
spiring than " Hail Columbia, Happy Land ! " 

Under the influence of such a system of public instruction, it is 
not wonderful that a strong national sentiment should be fostered, 
and that the children of emigrants should learn to love that 
country which had afforded equal shelter and equal rights to their 
parents when they landed upon our shores, friendless, homeless, 
and without pecuniary resources. 

We vema.v'k,^^ Fourthly. That Public Instruction is essential to 
the preservation of civil and religious liberty. 

The United States is the only government in the world, that has 
been able to tolerate universal suffrage, and to maintain religious 
faith without any established form of religion. To plant such a 
Eepublic in France, or Spain, Italy or Brazil, would be impossible. 
It would not flourish any more than the orange tree in the Arc- 
tic regions, for there is no adaptation at present, in the people of 
those countries to such a system of government. The reason that 
it has been sustained in the United States is that the masses have 
been sufficiently instructed to understand its operations, and to 
desire to apply its healthful checks. At the time of the formation 
of the Constitution many in the recent colonies possessed a high 
appreciation of education. The framers of that instrument, and 
statesmen ever since have felt that the only method of maintain- 
ing our type of government, was in the passage of laws fostering 
the intelligence of the people. The distinguished man who framed 
the celebrated Ordinance of 1*18*1, was convinced that the stability 
of a free government depended upon the highest possible intelli- 
gence among all classes of people. In that document is the em- 
phatic announcement that "religion, morality and knowledge 
being necessary to good government, and the happiness of man- 
kind, schools and other means of education shall be forever en- 
couraged. " ' 
Should the public authorities cease to carry out this idea, the 
prediction of Macaulay, in a letter to Eandall, the biographer of 
Thomas Jefferson, would surely come to pass. In the course of 
time our population would prove as fickle as those of France, who 
under a demagogue like Robespierre, shout for a Republic, and 
2 



10 

tinder a Louis Napoleon, with equal enthusiasm, vociferate for an 
Empire and Emperor. Take away the common school from the 
agricultural districts, and the masses would no longer have a place 
where they could meet and discuss their rights, and act in an inde- 
pendent manner ; but they would be led as sheep by a shepherd ; 
by some priest from the Church, or by some cunning partisan from 
the tavern, up to the polls there to vote as commanded. In time 
there would be an odious oligarchy in our midst, compared with 
which Russian despotism would be preferable, and comfortable. 

But after the eulogy we have passed on the American system of 
Public Instruction, candor demands open confession before this 
audience, that it has not fully accomplished its end. 

This has resulted from several causes, at which we would briefly 
glance. 

1. Imperfect organization The enactments of American Legis- 
latures too frequently lack simplicity and comprehension. They 
are burdened with cumbrous detail, and fail in adaptedness to the 
present exigencies of the population. There is a proneness to en- 
graft upon new States, the precise laws which have been found to 
work well where the communities are compact and the system 
of popular education perfectly understood. The Legislative cham- 
bers find advocates of a Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylva- 
nia, or Ohio code, verbatim et literatim, rather than friends of a code 
adapted for a State composed of heterogeneous materials, with 
settlements few and far between. 

The friends of each system failing to have it adopted as a whole, 
compromise with the others, and thus a new State like our own 
is afflicted with a school law which is only a patch work of mutil- 
ated systems, and confusion and discouragement are the conse- 
quences. 

2. A multiplicity of school districts has done much to curtail the 
benign influences of the public school system. 

In new States particularly, does this evil prevail. For the sake 
• of obtaining a school house somewhat nearer, or separation from 
neighbors of a different faith, districts are divided Until ten or 
twelve scholars become the average attendance at school. Of 
course, as long as the number of pupils is so small, it is impossi- 
ble to employ any one who is an accomplished teacher. 

3. Insufficient compensation to the teacher, is another draw-back. 



11 

Every other kind of labor but the toil of a faithful teacher, seems 
to be appreciated. The house servant obtains better wages than 
one in the same position in older communities. The farm hand is 
greatly in demand, and obtains a proper remuneration for his 
services, but the teachers of Minnesota, on an average, do not 
receive throughout the year the stipend of the most ordinary day 
laborer. As long as such a state of things exists, the blessing of 
Popular Education must be curtailed ; for a man discovers that he 
is better clothed, and has more self-respect while working with his 
hands, than when imparting instruction under such circumstances. 

Good old Roger Ascham, the faithful instructor of the unfortu- 
nate Lady Jane Grey, mourned over the niggardly policy in re- 
gard to teachers, which prevailed in England three centuries ago, 
and his words, though quaint, are well worthy of being remem- 
bered. Saith he, " It is a pity that commonly more care is had, 
yea, and that among very wise men, to find out rather a cunning- 
man for their horse, than a cunning man for their children. To 
the former they give two hundred pounds, while to the latter but 
two hundred shillings. God that sitteth in Heaven laugheth their 
choice to scorn, and rewardeth their liberality as it should. For 
he suffereth them to have tame and well-fed horses, but wild and 
unfortunate children ; and therefore in the end they find more 
pleasure in the horse, than comfort in the child. " 

Even in modern days we find there has been a public manifesta- 
tion of respect shown to Rarey, the horse trainer, that has never 
been exhibited toward eminent trainers of the youthful mind, like 
Arnold of Rugby, who by judicious counsel and discipline, have 
curbed scores of refractory boys, and made them docile pupils and 
honorable men, (1.) 

But even when there is fair compensation given, the system of 
Public Instruction very often fails to produce appropriate results, 
owing to the incompelency of teachers. 

The paltry pittance so slowly doled out to the school teacher, 

(1) As these pages are passing through the press, from the Pioneer <£ Democrat the following is 
taken : " Rarey, the great American horse-tamer, took final leave of his English friends at the 
Crystal Palace on the 27th of October. The whole of the immense Handel Orchestra was crammed 
to the roof, and presented a most imposing appearance, while every other available part of the edi- 
fice exhibited an eager crowd of faces. The Russian ambassador and a numerous suite occupied 
the Queen's gallery. After exhibiting the docility of the famous ' Cruiser,' Mr. Rarey displayed his 
skill in taming a very wild and vicious Irish mare, and a fierce English horse, and wound up his 
triumphal tour in Europe by a very neat speech, thanking his English friends for their cordial re- 
ception of him and his theories, and their unfailing kindness, Mr. Rarey's speech was vehemently 
pljeere^, and bp rehired ^ijiid general applause," 



12 

has driven many who would have followed the profession into more 
lucrative employment, and others have offered themselves as sub- 
stitutes who have not any proper conception of the teachers' work. 
All over the country there are found behind the teacher's desk, 
persons devoid of sensibility, not apt to teach, and not willing to 
learn. They become teachers simply because they are drones, and 
have failed to be successful in other pursuits. To correct the 
alarming evil, tlie State of Minnesota has in the days of her ex- 
treme poverty, with a liberality unprecedented at so early a period 
in the history of any State, donated $5,000 toward the sustenta- 
tion of an institution for the thorough training of teachers for the 
Common Schools, and for the elevation of their pursuit to the dig- 
nity of a profession. 

The undertaking is worthy of this intelligent community, who 
when residing in older States, saw the great advantages that flow 
from literary institutions. 

But at the outset there should be deeply impressed on the friends 
of the Normal School, the elements necessary for the success of 
any educational enterprise. It must have time. There must be 
first "the day of small things." It is the divine law that the de- 
velopment of things truly great, must be gradual. This was ex- 
pressed by the Heathen Greek in the proverb, that the " Gods 
grind slowly. " 

Four thousand years were occupied in developing the plan of 
redemption, under which the world has been growing better for 
the last eighteen centuries. All of the great principles of gov- 
ernment have been eliminated little by little. So in educational 
institutions. Yale College has now a world-wide reputation, but 
it is the result of a century and a half of gradual accretion. The 
germ of Princeton College was an humble log school, on the banks 
of the Neshaminy, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is as im- 
possible to make a truly successful institution without time, as it 
is for the horticulturist to have a century-plant bloom every year. 
It must first take hold of the afiections of the people. 

Another element is patience. The best devised schemes for the 
advancement of an educational enterprise often fail. There must 
be constant modifications and re-adjustments. Success seems to 
come only through a succession of trials. If then the directors of 
this School from time to time are compelled by unforseen circum- 



13 

stances to alter their policy, do not be quick to censure, but re- 
member that all new machinery must work at first with more or 
less friction. 

The last element that we would notice, as essential to the growth 
and success of an institution like that which opens in this commu- 
nity the present week, is money. 

No truly elevated literary enterprise is directly remunerative in 
a pecuniary sense. There is not a single college in the land that 
has ever been able to support itself by tuition fees. Merchants of 
England from the first were benefactors to Harvard, and the opu- 
lent of Boston for generations, have delighted in sustaining it by 
legacies. Had the fur trader Astor not been moved to the good 
work, there would have been no library like that which bears his 
name. The Cooper Institute and Girard College are looked upon 
with just pride by citizens of the respective localities in which 
they are situated, but if these plain business men had not distri- 
buted their wealth in that direction, they could not have existed. 

Pennsylvania recognizes a Normal School in the small village 
of Millersburg, but a building at a cost of $55,000, was prepared 
by the friends of education. Illinois has a similar school at 
Bloomington, to which McLean County contributed more than 
$100,000. 

To you citizens of Winona, the State appeals for a kindred lib- 
erality. In proportion as you make sacrifices for the training of 
teachers, you will become interested in the scheme, and the St^te 
no doubt in appreciation of your interest, will from time to time, 
lend a helping hand. But it must not be supposed that there can 
be any ultimate success, until the community adopt and nourish 
the germ just planted in their midst. 

Twelve years ago the Winnebago nation by treaty stipulation, 
abandoned their old homes in Iowa, and commenced their long and 
weary march to their new home, near Sauk Eapids, in the northern 
part of this State. 

In the charming month of June, by mutual agreement, parties 
by land and water, to the number of two thousand, arrived on this 
prairie. As they viewed the vast amphitheatre of lofty bluffs, the 
narrow lake on one side, the great river in front, they felt that it 
was a spot above all others for an Indian's lodge, and purchasing 



14 

the privilege of Wapasha, the chief of the Bakotah band that then 
lived here, they drew themselves up in battle array, and signified 
to the United States troops, that they would die before they would 
leave, * 

Twelve years hence, if the citizens who have taken the place of 
the rude aborigines, will be large hearted, and foster the Normal 
School, the Public Schools, and Churches of Christ, Winona will be 
lovelier than the " Sweet Auburn " of the poet, and educated men, 
and cultivated women, as they gaze upon your public edifices, and 
other evidences of refinement, will be attracted, and feel that here 
is the spot for a home, and like the Indians in eighteen hundred and 
forty-eight, here they will desire to tarry until they die. 



[nawpral %)ikm of lol^n #gbeit, %. 



Mr Chairman — Ladies and Gentlemen : — It is customary, on occa- 
sions, like this, when an important public enterprise is about to be 
launched upon the great deep of experiment ; or even to be en- 
trusted to the more certain keeping of a tried policy— for those to 
whom are committed the sacred interests — to give some pledge of 
fidelity and to make a fair statement of the views and policy, by 
which they expect to be guided in the management of them. 

We cheerfully comply therefore, with this time-honored custom, 
feeling how important it is, that there should be a thorough and 
definite understanding, between all parties, before risking such in- 
terests as are here at stake. • 

This day records the organization of the first separate and distinct 
State Normal School, west of the Father of Waters. And it is 
needless for me to say, that she launches forth freighted with the 
dearest hopes, the earnest prayers, and the highest ambition of, at 
least, the leading minds of the great and free people of the North- 
west. And not only so, but other eyes are upon us; and other 
hearts are beating in sympathy with ours. New Jersey, New 
York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and our nearer 
relatives are watching this movement, with unusual solicitude. If 
we shall succeed in making this school what it ought to be, and 
must be, in fact, to meet the demands of the State, Minnesota will 
then have won her way to an exalted position among her sisiter 



16 

States, rier star, though among the last that has yet arisen in 
the galaxy of shining orbs, shall not be dim though seen from a 
distance. 

In assuming the charge thus committed to us, by the authorities 
of the State, we feel that we have an important and double duty 
to perform— a duty in making known the policy, so as to accom- 
plish the great objects which we have in view, viz : ThQ renova- 
tion of the entire educational system of this State, by means of a 
superior quality of teaching, and to establish it upon a true philo- 
sophical basis. The modus o;perandi will be revealed, in part, as 
our plans are unfolded. 

These duties and suggestions distribute themselves as follows : 

1. To the Legislative and Executive authorities of this State, 
by whose wisdom and liberality, means are furnished for putting 
into operation — and we humbly trust — ^for carrying on this great 
enterprise to its final completion. 

2. To the Honorable Board of Trustees to whom have been com- 
mitted the proper investment of these means, and the general man- 
agement of the Institution. 

3. To the citizens of this State, and particularly to those of 
this city, by whose foresight and liberality, and in whose midst 
this Institution has been established. 

4. And lastly, to the Teachers and Schools of this State, for 
whose benefit this wise and liberal provision has been thus early 
made, and particularly to those Teachers, whose destiny has, this 
day, been linked with the great common school movement of the 
North-west, and who are, in a great degree, to be the public ex- 
ponents of the ef&ciency and permanency of this enterprise. 

1st. To the Legislature and State Authorities. — It would seem but 
courteous, therefore, in assuming the duties thus imposed upon us, 
by the Board, that due acknowledgement be tendered that body 
that first conceived and executed the plan, establishing Normal 
Schools in this State, and above all, to commend that wisdom and 
liberality by which so large a portion of the public domain is set 
aside for the exclusive benefits of schools. Three million acres of 
arable lands, whose value at the present time, cannot be less thafi 
$10 000,000, is a sum at once so vast, that it would seem nothing 
more could have been asked, in this direction, from the general gov- 



17 

ernment. Add to the annual income arising- from this sum — which 
in a short time, cannot be less than $1,000,000 — with the revenues 
arising from other sources, and Minnesota can boast a larger school 
fund than any other State in this Union. 

But superior advantages demand superior men and means to 
manage them. It is pertinent therefore, to inquire how this vast 
amount can best be expended, so as to meet the demands of the 
State, and the wants of those for whose benefit it was originally 
granted. To answer this in full, would involve more discussion 
and more time, than can here be given. But we might reply briefly, 
generally, and conclusively, however, by stating that in no luay, 
can this amount be expended to greater advantage, than by em- 
ploying competent and worthy persons to perform the labors and 
duties for which this expenditure is to be made. This is the only 
possible solution to the problem ; and we submit it for frank and 
candid consideration. And again, since such laborers cannot be 
had in sufficient numbers without special provisions for producing 
them; and since it has been demonstrated time and again in other 
states, that without competent laborers, the money thus expended 
is worse than squandered; it does seem desirable, therefore, that 
i3ome means be devised, both for furnishing competent laborers, and 
for preventing this fearful public waste. In this way alone, can 
the original intentions of the framers of the law be carried out. 
And this seems to be the view now entertained by those in author, 
ity. It is safe, therefore, and wise, to suggest, that a very small 
proportion of this fund be appropriated, as necessity and prudence 
would demand, for fitting laborers for this great work of educating 
the children of the State ; so that an equivalent may be rendered 
for this heavy outlay. Here, in the Common School, is where the 
loss is usually sustained. I call particular attention to this fact. 
Here, where the money is actually paid out to the laborers, is where 
the loss falls the most heavily, because poor teaching, or wrong 
teaching is worse than none at all. And here I would ask, with all 
candor, would it not be better, and wiser, and safer policy, every 
way, since the whole fund is virtually at the disposal of the Legis- 
lature, at least to be managed by them and their agents, through 
legal enactments; and since the preparation of teachers for the 
Common Schools, must and does come, ordinarily within the scope 
of Common School expense; would it not be better, I say, to invest 
3 



18 

a small portion of this sxim, annually, in training and preparing 
them for their work, rather than that they shonld continue in the 
indifferent discharge of the duties, and receive full pay, without 
such preparation? Anyone can see the wisdom and justice of 
such a course. It would be the payment of a very small per cent, 
on the general fund, in order to save it, or to secure its safe and 
profitable investment. It would be a virtual insurance, with this 
difference, however, that to the stockholders, in ordinary insurance, 
nothing but the price of insurance is realized, and this is often re- 
duced by fearful losses, while in the former case, with a proper 
investment, which this plan proposes to secure, there can be no 
loss, and the gain is infinitely greater, since whatever is gained in 
education is infinite; and since every dollar thus expended, in 
fitting teachers for their duties, besides being instrumental in sav- 
ing the entire investment, secures twice or thrice the income from 
the original stock. 

Take an example, for instance. Suppose that $500,000 of this 
fund is to be expended for teaching; and that without properly 
qualified teachers, as any one can see, the whole of this, or even 
one half of it ($250,000,) is wasted. And this by no means is an 
extravagant supposition. But suppose, by the investment of two 
per cent, of the $500,000, producing a sum equal to $10,000 annu- 
ally — enough to sustain one good Normal School, and yet only 
reducing the general fund, per district, about $1,00 annually — that 
the $250,000— or even the one half of it, $125,000 — could be saved 
annually, what would wisdom dictate in such a case ? Why, that 
it should be done, of course. I venture to say, there is not a busi- 
ness man in this city, or in the State, that would manage his own 
affairs in this way. Here would be a clear saving, according to 
the lowest estimate, of the difference between $125,000 and $10,000, 
equal to $115,000 annually, or of twenty-three per cent, per annum 
on the $500,000. 

But when we come to estimate, not only the material losses and 
a-ains, but those that relate to the future of the man, then the com- 
parison becomes most alarming. Here, on the one hand, is the loss 
of lime, of opportunity, of talent, of character, of position, of use- 
fulness, of happiness; and not only so, but there is ?i positive m^vjcj 
done the children in the contraction of bad habits, and bad health, 
bad principles and bad practices, which haunt them like a brood of 



19 

demons all their days; and on the other hand, the gain of all these, 
(minus the evils,) with the continually increasing benefits arising 
from this endless train of good influences. Thus viewed, the con- 
victions are perfectly overwhelming. It does seem that no sane 
body of men would hesitate for one moment, to make the invest- 
ment and to make it liberal. And this, I rejoice to say, has already 
been indicated as the future policy of this State and her Legislature. 

But it may be asked by some, "Is this a true estimate of these 
matters, and of the advantages of the Normal School ?" We have 
only time to say, that as far as we have been able to gather infor- 
mation for the last ten years, and to make deductions, it is a true 
estimate, and most* emphatically true and significant also ; and the 
statistics of other states will show it most clearly, and our own is 
beginning to reveal the same startling facts, in reference to poor 
schools. Every poor school, or school master is a curse; while 
every good one is a blessing. That is the simple difference. And 
the sooner we learn that fact, the better. 

But again it may be asked, " cannot an ample supply of trained 
teachers be had from other institutions, and from other sources? " 
We can only say to this, that they never have been yet, in any 
single instance, either in this country or any other: and they 
never can be had in suf&cient numbers, and of proper qualifi- 
cations, from those sources; siipply because other institutions con- 
cern themselves mainly about the qualifications of their pupils for 
other and ulterior objects. You might, ladies and gantlemen, as 
reasonably expect, that broom manufactories would yield a suffi- 
cient supply of tailors or cobblers ; or that the study of the classics 
would furnish an ample supply of doctors or lawyers. " Like pro- 
duces its like. " " The stream can rise no higher than the foun- 
tain. " The broom manufactory will produce brooms and broom 
makers, and not tailors. The classics will make scholars and not 
doctors. And the Normal School, when it is a Normal School, will 
produce teachers; and no other institutions can, to the same ex- 
tent, until they are organized and conducted on the same plan ; 
and when that takes place, then they become Normal Schools. 
Hence it is idle to look for a supply of highly trained and efficient 
teachers, outside of the means whereby they are produced. Teach- 
ing is just as distinctly, essentially, and emphatically a profession, 
to be learned by observation, study and practice, as any other. 



20 

But we liavo no time to pursue this siil>jcct further here. We 
close this part of it therefore, by stating what all will admit to be 
true, viz : that for whatever grants made to the Normal School, 
either for buildings, apparatus or other purposes, a full equivalent 
should be rendered in properly qualified teachers. The State has 
a right to expect this ; and hence the Legislature has wisely pro- 
vided, that in consideration of this, she has a claim on the services 
of the teachers here instructed, for at least two years after enter- 
ing the Institution. And here let me assure that honorable body, 
and all others concerned in this matter, that no candidate fur such 
services, shall ever leave this Institution tvith my official sanction, until he 
or she, shall have rendered good evidence, of such qualifications, physically, 
intellectually, and morally, as shall meet the demands of the schools and 
the State. 

I am aware that Normal Schools have not always met public ex- 
pectation, in this respect. I am also aware that they have not 
always done their duty. But the failure has been more the result 
of inadequate means, poor organization, and mismanagement, and 
misdirected efforts, than from any radical defect in the system 
itself. The effort has been, too much, to meet a demand that 
should be met in the common school and higher seminaries of 
learning, viz: the literary qualification alone, of teachers. Hence 
Normal Schools have degenerated in some instances, into mere 
academies. But this can be shown to be entirely unnecessary. 
Their duties are as distinctive in their scope and characteristics, 
as those of any other professionial school. Their office is, not 
merely to make scholars, but teachers. And here, we would be wil- 
ling to pledge the State an ample supply of them, provided it will 
furnish the material from which to manufacture them, and the 
means whereby to operate. And we repeat, that in no other way 
can this great want, on the part of the State, be met, in that truest 
and highest sense, except by establishing Normal Schools, where 
the teachers may learn the science, and be trained in the art of 
teaching. But we have no time to pursue this subject here. 
Other reasons will be revealed as we proceed. 

2hd. The Board of Trustees. — Gentlemen : Allow me to address 

you personally on this occasion ; and thank you for the distin- 

,guished honor you have conferred upon me, in thus committing to 

^uiy care, the direction and management of this school. I feel. 



21 

Sirs, in accepting this position, that I have accepted at your hands, 
a holy trust, and a life labor. Surely, to carry out your vifews, as 
they have been expressed to me, and as I conceive they ought to 
be carried out, would require, not the sacrifice of a life, but the 
success of one. Not only care, and toil, and selfdenial, and labor 
— man's best inheritance here — are involved in this struggle, but 
the rewards, the triumphs, the conquest, the glory, the fulfillment 
of our devoutest expectations, the consummation of our dearest 
hopes, viz : the development and sublimation of man's highest 
powers, in devotion to a cause, that looks not at the present good 
alone; but away, far beyond, to the happiness of the unborn mil- 
lions of our race. All this, and much more, is involved in the 
labors which we this day inaugurate. 

It is but natural that I should feel the weight of this responsi- 
bility, and my great incompetency for a work so vast and over- 
whelming. But duties so arduous, so exalted, so ennobling, and 
so divine, I confess, have great and strong attachments. And 
with your counsel, your sympathy and your labors, I shall de- 
voutly accept them, trusting humbly in Divine wisdom for that 
guidance which alone can ensure safety and success. And while 
it shall be my earnest desire, and my happiness, at all times, to 
acquiesce in your views, and to carry out your wishes, it will 
readily be seen by you, that the internal management of the school 
must be entrusted to an individual mind; must be a unity; and 
that unity is best exemplified in the individual decisions and acts 
of the representative head, aided, of course, by those whom you 
may place in the school as assistants, which assistants should be 
the united choice of yourselves and the Principal. This faculty 
must be left entirely untrammeled in the exercise of those func" 
tions exclusively internal, and at the same time, allowed a liberal 
share of suggestive latitude in the general management. 

I feel. Gentlemen, in common with yourselves, that the Normal 
School must succeed; that it must accomplish the great object for 
which it was formed, to wit : the renovation and purification of 
the entire education enterprize of this State; that the greatest 
good to the greatest number must be its high object and aim. 
And if I see that its success depends upon the sacrifice of personal 
ease, personal favor, or the opinion of personal friends, person 
" must stand from under. " The Normal School, first, last, and all 



the time. Its interests are too sacred to barter at any price. 
They are inseparably linked with all the common schools of this 
State. The success of the Normal School must be the success of 
common schools, directly, or indirectly. They live and breathe 
together. Any thing, therefore, tending to engender prejudice and 
local strife, must injure the Normal School, since its life, its in- 
stincts, its usefulness and nourishment all depend upon the favor 
in which it is held by the popular masses, whose servant it is. 
Let it spread wide its arms, and strike deep its roots, and embrace 
all that comes, legitimately, under the name of school or education. 
Far be it from you, or from me, to consent to use the liberality of 
the State, for the aggrandizement of a merely local interest. The 
State Normal School should be linked with no such faction ; but 
should be looked after and built up at the sacrifice of every other 
interest, let that be merely local or otherwise. 

This brings us to notice, in the third place, the relations and 
obligations existing between this school and the citizens generally, 
and those of this place more especially. Every citizen in this 
broad land has a sacred and inalienable right to a part of the pub- 
lic domain, and especially to that portion of it which is set aside 
for the education of the children. If he has no children, so much 
the worse for him. That is his misfortune, and goes just that far 
towards rendering him a useless member of society. But this, by 
no means, releases him from the obligation of expending his por- 
tion of such domain for the education of his neighbors' children ; 
since his own personal interests, by virtue of his partial isolation, 
are identified with theirs, and are advanced proportionally with 
theirs, and the general good. He ought to expend it all the more 
willingly, since he reaps the common benefits of society, without 
contributing anything to its membership ; and since he enjoys all 
the immunities thereof, without expense, save the little he gives, 
in common with his neighbors, for the public weal. 

Another truth equally selfevident, is that every child, white, red 
or black, male or female, bond or free, rich or poor, high or low, 
domestic or foreign, has an inalienable right to an education. No 
laws nor law makers have any more right to deprive children of 
this, than they have to break their arms or legs, or to put out their 
eyes. And on the same principle, we assume that the laws are 
deficient, and lawmakers are culpable, just to the extent that they 



23 

do not provide for the thorough education of the children of the 
State. Since in failing to do this, they entail worse than merely 
physical evils upon them and the State, by depriving the former of 
the free use of all their legitimate powers, and the State of their 
services. Again, by the infliction of merely physical injury, the 
damage, for the most part, is only temporal ; but in the former 
case, whether from neglect or otherwise, it is not only temporal, 
to a more fearful extent too, but it is also eternal, and self-perpet- 
uating, since it is entailed ujpon future generations. We claim, 
therefore, that this education is a most sacred inheritance, to which 
the child is born, and of which no earthly power should divest him. 

And further, this education should be free — as free as the air he 
breathes; and to all classes alike accessible, so far, at least, as the 
distribution of the public fund is concerned. We are prepared to 
defend the doctrine, " that the property of the State should edu- 
cate the children of the State ;" (and that includes the teachers 
of the State also, ) and that this, so far from weakening the pa- 
rental obligation to educate, only strengthens it, and renders it 
more practical and certain. 

But how does this doctrine effect the Normal School, and its obli- 
gations to the State ?' Much every way; but chiefly, in that it 
points out the mutual relationship and dependencies existing be- 
tween them, every man and woman, whether parent or not; every 
boy and girl in this broad State, has an interest in this Normal 
School. That interest is indefeasible, and co-extensive with the 
expenditures and the benefits. Its blessings like its expenses, 
therefore, should be distributed, as far as possible, to all alike. 

But while its benefits are thus distributed, it cannot escape you, 
fellow citizens, that the obligations are also mutual. Its separate 
and isolated existence, as a Normal School, is simply impossible. 
It must derive its prosperity and consequent usefulness, mainly 
from the generous support you give its pupils. These teachers 
will be asking for schools, by and by, that they may give an equiv- 
alent, for the assistance they have received from the State. Thus 
you will perceive that the State has made you her agents, through 
whom she expects her remuneration. And while it is not expected 
that you are under any special obligations to employ these when 
you can get others equally as good, or better, (if that were possi- 
ble,) for less money; yet it is expected that you will not allow 



24 

them to be pushed aside and crowded out by those who are less 
qualified, because they can afford to " Uadi cImafP No; your own 
interests, as well as the deference you should show the wise pro- 
visions of the State, would forbid this. 

I will not stop here to discuss the ruinous policy of employing 
" cheap teachers," because they art cheap, further than to say, that 
those " cheap teachers" are the dearest in the end; since they ren- 
der the State no equivalent for the miserable salaries they eke out 
of her Treasury. To employ poor teachers for poor schools, is the 
surest way to keep them poor. To employ illiterate teachers for 
backward schools, is like employing the poorest doctors for the 
sickest patients. " They that are whole, have no need of the phy- 
sician, but they that are sick." As a general thing, we need the 
best teachers for the poorest schools. I will not say Itst in every 
point of qualification; but htst for that particular school — the best 
adapted for its peculiar wants. No one, therefore can fail to see 
the propriety of employing the best teachers, in point of profes- 
sional ability, for the primary schools; since it requires more wis- 
dom, greater experience, and a rarer gift to instruct and control 
small children, than any others. And this importance is very much 
heightened, when we take into the account the character and dura- 
bility of the impressions made in early life. But this teaching gift 
is, cultivable, and is peculiar to a certain class, mostly females. 
And the natural gift, without cultivation of it, is often worse than 
no gift, since it confers additional power, without the ability to 
control, and direct in useful channels. Hence, the very great im- 
portance of employing female teachers that have been trained in 
the Normal School, where opportunities have been enjoyed for the 
study of this subject in all its phases, and for witnessing and test- 
ing the best method of teaching children of all grades and ages. 
And this importance increases in proportion to the number of these 
teachers that are annually employed in the public schools of' the 
State. 

This brings us to notice, in this connection the character and 
organization of the Normal School, more at length ; giving its 
peculiar fitness for supplying just such teachers as the schools of 
the Statamay require, as a desideratum of the very first importance. 

We cannot here enter into a description of the organization and 
wants of these schools, further than to say that with a competent 



25 

teacher, we believe every district school, and indeed, almost every 
other, may be classified into three general divisions, and each of 
these into two or three sub-divisions, or classes. In cities and 
larger towns, classification is still more readily effected by estab- 
lishing what are called Graded Schools, including Primary, Secon- 
dary, Grammar and High School. The last one of these grades is 
seldom if ever required in the country school, while all three of 
the other departments, will, in most cases, be represented in the 
same school. 

Now each of these classes or divisions will require separate and 
distinct characteristics in teaching. It is necessary, also, that 
under these circumstances, they all shall be combined in one and 
the same teacher. Or in other words, the teacher will be required 
to teach a Primary, Secondary, and Grammar School, ail at the 
same time and in the same school room. And this, my friends, it; 
the great perplexing question, to-day, in the thorough and consist- 
ent organization of the country district school. The Normal School 
must meet and grapple with this difficulty. It must meet it fairly, 
and as far as possible, provide a remedy for it; for it is for this 
purpose chiefly, viz: to prepare teachers for the common schools, 
that it has been established. 

In order, therefore, to accomplish this object, there must be an 
organization of its several departments looking to these several 
difficulties, and at the same time accomplishing the other objects 
of a Normal School. The whole system, therefore, presupposes 
the existence of a model or experimental school, in connection 
with the other departments, in which all these types of school can 
be represented. The mixed-grade school, or the one having three 
or four grades, in the same room, as described above, I believe has 
never yet been attempted in the Normal School. The others have, 
with the most satisfactory results. And I see no good reasons why 
this one may not also be organized with like results. The Normal 
School would then present a complete system, representative of 
the entire educational machinery of the State, both as to classified 
and unclassified schools. And this is what it should do. It does 
not fulfill its mission unless it does thus represent it. Here then, in 
addition to other advantages, the pupil — teacher — may study the 
entire system of graded schools from the highest to the lowest de- 



26 

partment, and become familiar with the management of fill, these 
several grades and classes. 

But it might be well, further to describe this model, since the effi- 
cacy of the Normal school, and hence the benefits arising to citizens 
from its location here, will depend in a great measure, upon the 
perfection of this organization. 

First in order then, we should have the Normal School proper, 
including the Normal or Professional Department, and the High 
School, or Preparatory Department. These departments are both 
necessary to the efficiency and existence of the Normal School, and 
hence should have their location in the same building. The Aca- 
demic Course can then be made as thorough as most Collegiate 
Courses, and much more disciplinary and practical. 

Second. — The Grammar School Department, one Secondary, (grade 
a,) and the mixed or rough grade, should occupy another, and adja- 
cent building. These departments, as has just been shown, are 
also necessary to the thorough organization of a representative 
system of education for a state or a community. 

And third and lastly, there would be the other secondary grade, 
(J,) and the two Primary Departments, (grades a and I,) to occupy 
a building similar to the one for the Grammar School, etc. 

The above arrangement proceeds upon the supposition that three 
buildings be provided, in time for the accommodation of this sys- 
tem of schools, or all three of these departments slightly modified, 
might occupy the same building, if it were of sufficient size. The 
whole, then would read thus, arranged with reference to entire 
grades and departments: one Normal Department, one High School 
Department, one Grammar School Department, one Secondary De- 
partment, including grades a and h, one miscellaneous grade, and 
one Primary Department, including grades a and h. Other depart- 
ments and grades could be established, if the number in attendance 
and circumstances require it. 

Now each one of these departments should be superintended by 
a Principal, and each one of the grades by a permanent teacher, 
who, according to the following arrangement, would be able to 
take charge of from one hundred to two hundred and fifty pupils. 
Each one of these departments would be sub-divided into a con- 
venient number of classes, according to the age, capacity and attain- 
ments of the pupils. There should also be from four to six class 



2T 

or recitation rooms attached to each one of the main rooms in these 
buildings. Each department would then be provided with one large 
assembly or study room, arranged so as to seat two hundred pupils, 
and six class rooms, adjoining, for recitation. In this large room, 
all the general exercises could be conducted, and all study and 
preparation made, when, at given times and signals, the classes 
may retire to their several recitation rooms, where they are met by 
two select classes of Normal pupils, two for each room, one from 
the junior class, as an observer, and one from the senior class as 
teacher, or this may be varied to suit circumstances. 

Now then, Normal pupils, (those of them who give instruction) 
must first have undergone a thorough training and preparation in 
the Normal School, on the lessons to be taught, and must also 
have undergone an examination on the most approved modes of 
teaching, before they are permitted to take charge of classes. 
The others come in as mere observers, to note the methods of in- 
struction, and to learn the disposition and advancement of the pu- 
pils ; so that they, when their turn comes, may be able to carry 
the instruction forward without interruption. 

These classes are here drilled thoroughly for the required time, 
'when their places are supplied, it may be, by another class and 
other teachers. The teaching- will be supplied, either by the Prin- 
cipal of the Normal School, the Principal of the Department, or 
the head teacher in the class. And during the absence of any 
teacher from his department, his place can be supplied from the 
teaching class of Normal pupils, when and where another very 
important " school-room duty" can be learned and practiced, viz : 
the art of governing the school, securing study, and managing the 
whole machinery at intervals. 

Here then, in this system, teaching may be learned in the only 
successful way, and in all departments and grades of school. And 
it is astonishing, the amount of it, that may be done ; and the per- 
fection to which the teaching and learning may be brought, under 
an arrangement of this kind. The Model School is the only true 
type of school. 

1st. Because it fulfills the conditions of education more nearly than 
any other, since the exercises of study, recitation and teaching are 
distributed in about the right proportion among all grades — teach- 
ers as well as pupils — thus affording a harmonious and consistent 



28 

blending of all the forces of education, of acq^uisition and use, the 
true interchangeable relation of want and supply. 

2nd. Because it costs less money to teach the same nmnber of pupils ; 
since each paid teacher or principal may safely superintend two 
hundred pupils, if need be, being assisted each day by a corps of 
from four to six trained pupil teachers, who teach without com- 
pensation, as a part of their Normal School training. Making the 
expense about one-half or one-third less for the same amount and 
quality of teaching. 

3rd. Because it secures tetter teachers, every way ; since those who 
superintend must themselves be first class teachers, which gives 
character to all the teaching, in all the classes, and all the depart- 
ments. 2. Since the pupil teachers must themselves have spent 
one week or more, in observing methods and studying the dispo- 
sition and capacity of the class, and have undergone a thorough 
examination as to preparation of the lessons and other exercises 
to be taught, before they are allowed to give instruction in class. 

3. Because they have an additional motive for thoroughness, 
siiice their standing in the Normal School is determined from their 
record of teaching, more than from that of learning what to teach. 

4. Since the classes may be smaller, and more evenly graded; this 
being onerof the chief advantages, since a most thorough and con- 
sistent grading of all the pupils may thus be secured. 5. Since 
from three to four times as much time and attention may be devo- 
ted to the individual classes and pupils as there can be under the 
ordinary arrangement. 6. Since by this method, we are able to 
keep the pupils busy all the time, at some appropriate employment 
or exercise, and thus prevent that bane of all schools and all so- 
ciety, idleness, which is doing more to-day to curse our schools, 
than any other one thing, since the pupils, in the great majority 
of instances, spend from one-half to three-fourths of their time in 
doing nothing at all, or worse than nothing; and these habits carry 
themselves right into their business of whatever character, in after 
life. Now this can be prevented or removed, only by some such 
arrangement as described above, by which all the time of the child 
may be employed. Other advantages might be named; but we 
pass to notice in the next place. 

The advantages of this arrangement to the pupils of the Normal 
School, and hence to the other schools of the State, through them. 



29 

1st. It affords an opportunity to the pupil teacher to study the 
whole system of graded schools, from the lowest to the highest 
department, in one comprehensive model. 

2nd. It affords him an opportunity to witness the organization, 
government, recitations and other exercises, conducted on the most 
approved plans. 

3rd. It affords him just what every young teacher should have 
before he is intrusted with a school of his own, viz : an opportu- 
nity to direct and manage the studies of children, as well as to give 
instruction; and in fact, to assume the entire responsibility for the 
conduct of the school for a given time. 

4th. It affords an opportunity to any teacher who may desire 
it, to cultivate his or her particular talent for any particular grade 
of school. 

5th. It affords the same opportunity to any who may wish to 
qualify themselves for all the grades of school; since they can 
enter any one of these particular grades, as an actual practitioner, 
and pass successively through the whole. 

6th. And superadded to these advantages, the teacher, during 
this term of observation and practice, is to study the educational 
system of the State, the science of education in general, and mak- 
ing himself familiar, not only with the school laws of the State, 
but with the laws of human growth and culture, the capacity of 
all the human powers, the nature and force of the various depart- 
ments of science, their fitness for the several educational purposes, 
and thus laying the foundation for a successful career as a pro- 
fessional teacher. 

It will be seen from the above, what the Normal school is capa- 
ble of doing, provided it can rely upon you, my friends, and upon 
the Legislature for the necessary aid. Just such a school is needed 
for the State purposes, and just such a school may be established 
in your city if you desire it. The State needs what you can most 
consistently commit to her, and you need what the State can most 
consistently commit to you. The advantages shall therefore be 
natural and self-perpetuating; and the expense, by virtue of this 
accommodation and division of labor, may be greatly reduced to 
both parties. 

Our Normal School must prove, at best, but a medium affair* 
unless we can have the means in time, for putting it into full play, 



30 

in all its parts. It must forever be a cripple, if we allow it to 
grow up deformed or defective in any of its departments. No one 
can fail to see that a school of this kind is the great educational 
necessity of the State. As such, it makes its appeal to us this 
day for aid. Colleges and Universities are luxuries which we do 
not specially need just now. Normal Schools, or the preparation of 
teachers, for the schools of the State, is the necessity, I repeat, 
which must be met now, or the defeat of Colleges, Universities 
and every other institution is rendered doubly certain. 

I confess, fellow citizens, I have long wished for an opportunity 
for putting into operation my cherished ideas of schools and edu- 
cation — an opportunity for establishing a model, consistent and ad- 
equate, in all its parts, and adapted to the great wants o± a State. 

May I not look with encouragement to your State, and to your 
city for the necessary advantages ? Will you afford me that long 
coveted opportunity, or must I look elsewhere ? I trust you will 
not thrust aside these countless advantages described above, and 
suffer your schools, and the school system of the State, to be 
trampled down by ruthless speculation, or the equally destructive 
agencies of indifference and neglect. Let Minnesota utter her 
voice on this important subject. Let her broad and .fertile prair- 
ies, her beautiful valleys and fields, her boundless resources of 
wealth, answer. Let a voice from the legislative halls answer. 
Let a voice from the peaceful citizens answer. Let that pleading 
voice that comes up from her children in every city, town, and 
hamlet, and from every school-house, and all these utterances, be 
heard and heeded. Unless they are, the mingled din of those 
voices will rise, ere long, again, borne on every breeze across our 
lakes, rivers and plains, more plaintive now, more clamorous, more 
discordant, more imperative, more terrible, pleading for more asyl- 
ums, more courts, more missions, more money, more bread; and 
we must answer this call with our cash. There will be no escape 
then; and the penalty will be the more unwelcome and more fear- 
ful, since it might have been prevented. 

4. But we come now to notice, in the last place, some of the 
peculiarities of a Normal School, as distinguished from other in- 
stitutions. The relation it sustains to those institutions, to teach- 
ers generally, and especially to those who are present this day as 
pupils. The first we must allude to but briefly. 



31 

What we mean by other inistitutions in this connection, is the 
entire educational machinery of the State, whether henevolent or 
otherwise. The educational influences are not bounded by the 
precincts of the Common School, however general and powerful 
these schools may be made; but they extend as far and wide as 
the influences of man can extend. The asylums for the deaf and 
dumb, the blind, the insane, the idiotic or imbecile; houses of ref- 
uge or reform, benevolent societies. Sabbath schools, churches, 
and even down to that most potent of all educators, the family 
and social circle — all these, and many more, are the fit subjects 
for the study and labor of the Normal pupil. 

My young friends, when you enter this field, you not only pledge 
yourselves the public servants of the State, but you enter a mis- 
sionary field, in the highest and truest sense of that term. You 
ally yourselves and your fortunes with the dearest interests of the 
State — with every thing in fact, that is holy, ennobling and good, 
with that endless chain of mighty influences that links man to his 
Maker. You penetrate that great deep of unseen causes and in- 
fluences, which evermore surges with the burden of our broken 
and shattered humanity. You lay your hands upon Divine things, 
and solemnly pledge yourselves to handle them as the instruments 
of God, for the restoration of the lost loveliness to the soul, the 
clearness and vigor to the intellect, and the health and manliness 
to the human form divine. You should tremble as you enter this 
holy sanctuary —the holiest in the records of the human family — 
the sanctuary of thoughts, emotions, volitions, and God-like power 
— a sanctuary all redolent with the divinest aroma— the living, 
moving, deathless energies of human souls. And, as Moses was 
commanded to put off the shoes from his feet, in the visible pres- 
ence of the Burning Bush, should you, as you enter here, divest 
yourselves of every unholy thought, feeling and desire; and arm 
yourselves with that innocence and purity that made Satan stand 
aghast, gnashing, and acknowledge, when angel-confronted, and 
touched by Ithuriel's spear, "how awful goodness is." Thus, 
my young friends, should you equip yourselves, as you enter this 
arena, where passions sometimes strive for power; but where dis- 
cipline chastens and refines them, and makes them the obedient 
servants of the will. Thus should you surround yourselves with 
those heavenly guards, innocence and virtue, that you may- walk 



through the furnace of trials, conflicts and temptations incident to 
an educational career, without even so much as the smell of fire 
upon your garments. Then shall ye be strong, through Christ the 
strength of all sound education, to do battle against the hosts of 
ignorance and sin. But we have only time to call your attention 
to some of the leading characteristics of this school, and to some 
of the obligations resting upon you, by virtue of your espousal of 
this cause to-day. 

In the first place, then, this is no ordinary school. By its very 
name and profession, it takes a higher stand than other institu- 
tions. Not higher, perhaps, in a literary sense; but higher in that 
it assumes the prerogative to give directions and instruction in 
the use of knowledge, and every other instrument for the eleva- 
tion of the race. It is professional. While other institutions pro- 
pose to develop the human faculties, by the acquisition of knowl- 
edge; this proposes more. It professes also to teach and enforce 
the right application of this knowledge, and this human power, 
thus generated and developed, to the development of similar qual- 
ities in others. And its character, consequently, ranks as much 
higher than that of ordinary institutions, in these respects, as the 
application or use of knowledge is higher than the mere acquisi- 
tion of it. Its regime of study, discipline and labor must, there- 
fore, rank correspondingly high, or it does not fulfil its mission. 
Every one's progress here, must be measured by his ability to use 
knowledge skillfully in teaching others. In most institutions the 
pupil studies to know ; here he studies to do. It will be seen, . 
therefore, that this school will be no place for idleness or wicked- 
ness ; for there will be no time for the indulgence of these propen- 
sities. Idleness is incompatible with the genius of the Normal 
School. Indeed, it cannot exist, without a flagrant violation of 
the conditions of membership. A lazy person never ought to come 
in sight of children — save as a warning — much less should he 
teach them. Laziness will no more be tolerated here, than drunk- 
enness and kindred vices. 

Again, wickedness will not be tolerated here. I use the com- 
prehensive term wickedness to denote all vice and crime, and every 
thing that leads to them. The warfare shall therefore be as sore 
against wickedness as against ignorance. I never could reconcile 
the inconsistency of a person's educating a part of himself at a 



88 

time; or a part of himself for good and a part for evil. " No mail 
can serve two masters. " We shall proceed therefore upon the 
plan of educating a whole man at a time, well, knowing that 
in order to produce harmonious results, there must be a harmoni- 
ous and consistent blending of all the influences and exercises 
necessary to produce those results. Neither can I reconcile the 
inconsistency of an educated man's being a bad man, any more 
then I can a sick man's being a well man, a weak man's being a 
strong man, or a wise man's being a fool. Education means the 
development of all the possible good in men, and the suppression 
of all the possible evil. It is a renovation and restoration of all 
his original powers, to a comparative state of purity, activity, and 
vigor, wrought out through the heaven-appointed means for restor- 
ing to man what was lost, when he basely yielded up those powers, 
to the disobedience and sin that wrought such ruin among them. 
But every educational want has its corresponding supply: and 
every disease of body, mind and soul, has its antidote. Hence 
that education that does not recognize Christ in it — ^the great 
antidote for sin — is no education, in the truest sense of the word ; 
since it ignores the only life-giving principle from which all true 
progress springs. He alone can neutralize sin, that primal cause 
of all physical, intellectual and moral obliquity, which an educa- 
tion seeks to correct, and put man's powers into a true condition 
of growth and development. 

A man's real education begins with a new birth. But Nicode- 
mus said, "How can these things be ?" So will many other blind 
Pharisees of the present day, imagine ; but the truth stands there 
nevertheless: and just so long as we ignore it, we shall fail, as we 
deserve to fail, in the true education of the race. We may build 
school-houses and plant colleges, and universities, and Normal 
Schools, until our land is clouded with them, and we shall forever 
fail until we recognize this one simple truth. I say, therefore, a 
man's real education begins with a new birth. All antecedent to 
this is preparatory, and should be directed with strict reference 
to this one great event, when he can begin to grow and drink in 
the great truths of science and religion. A man can only grow 
harmoniously when he grows in accordance with God's plan of 
growth. His plan is that he shall grow in goodness as fast as he 
grows in wisdom, and that his physical powers shall not be inter- 
5 



34 

fered with, but strengthened and refined in this, and by this 
growth. How then can an educated man be a bad man? He 
cannot, any more than b'ght can be darkness, or good can be evil, 
or virtue, vice ; for whatever he lacks of being good, or what God 
designed he should be, he lacks in his education. And the same 
is true in every other possible respect. Whatever he lacks of fill- 
ing the measure of manhood, in a physical, intellectual, moral and 
spiritual sense, as marked out by the Creator, he lacks in his thor- 
ough full-orbed development, as a man, a Christian, a scholar, an 
educator. 

I cannot consent, therefore, to any other definition, interpreta- 
tion or application of education, than that which looks to the ac- 
complishment of all these objects, in the fullest and highest sense. 
And here allow me to add, that no teacher can pass under the sanc- 
tion of this Institution, who does not possess all these attributes, if 
not in a high, at least in a respectable degree. The spirit and 
letter of the laws of the land, bear testimony to the soundness 
and safety of this position. I would not turn a. bear or a wolf 
loose among a flock of lambs ; neither would I, a teacher, with a 
bad heart, bad morals, bad principles, and lad practices. Much less 
then, would I turn him loose among little children, and schools, 
and then add to his license my official sanction. I thus make my- 
self responsiblo for the evil he may do. 

A fool cannot teach wisdom; neither can a bad man teach good- 
ness, except in a negative way. Satan cannot correct sin; there- 
fore, his emissaries should not be employed to cultivate the vine- 
yards of the Almighty, where so much sin and moral obliquity are 
to be dealt with. Knowledge and goodness grow best together. 
Therefore, no attempt to separate them should be tolerated. Ee- 
ligion and science were made to go hand in hand. Their mission 
is the redemption of the race. " What, therefore, God has joined 
together, let not man put assunder. " 

Well, which do we need most, to-day, knowledge or goodness ? 
Intellectuality or spirituality ? Smartness or honesty ? Shrewd- 
ness or integrity ? Half men or whole men ? Men without souls 
or with souls ? These questions properly answered, and then we 
shall be able to determine the character of the teaching most 
needed. 

Nay, my fellow teachers and pupils, education and teaching 



35 

mean more than merely hearing recitations and keeping good 
order. They mean building up human bodies, minds and souls, 
each in one harmonious, majestic, living, temple; and adorning 
it with all that is beautiful, costly, pure and good. 

But our space here* only allows us to add in conclusion, that it 
shall be the leading object of the Normal School, so to distribute 
its labors and other exercises, that all the faculties of the pupil 
teacher, physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual, shall be ad- 
dressed in due proportion, at the proper time, and in the proper 
manner; and so to develop, strengthen, elevate and purify these 
powers, in the student; and so to train him in the educational pro- 
cesses, that he may readily apply them to the education of the 
children and youth committed to his care. More pains shall be 
taken to make teachers, than mere scholars ; well knowing this to 
be the point upon which Normal Schools fail more frequently than 
upon any other. Here then, fellow teachers and friends, in this 
brief outline, behold my ideal of a school. Behold my type of a 
National Education. Behold what your schools ought to be, and 
every school must be, if we ever expect to meet a tithe of that 
weighty obligation resting upon us, the public servants of this 
c:reat and s:rowina: Commonwealth. 



* Only a small part of the fourth head of this address is published for want of space. 



®rgam^ Ah d % Sptml ^t\ml 



An Act of the Legislature, passed at the session of 1858, direct- 
ed the Governor to appoint a Nokmal Board op Instkuction, consist- 
ing of a Director, in each of the Judicial Districts of the State, to 
whom was intrusted, under certain restrictions, the establishment 
of three State Normal Schools. By reason of the financial depres- 
sion, caused by the revulsion of 1851, the Normal Board did not 
convene until August 16, 1859. At that meeting, held at the Cap- 
itol, the six Judicial Districts, according to the provision of the 
statute, were formed into three Normal Districts, uniting in the 
formation of the first, two contiguous Judicial Districts; of the 
second, two; and of the third, two. By this arrangement the 
third and fifth Judicial Districts were constituted into the^Pirst 
Normal District, embracing a large portion of Southern Minne- 
sota. The statute provides that 

There shall be established within five years after the passage of this Act, an In- 
stitution, to educate and prepare teachers for teaching in the Common Scliools of 
this State, to be called a State Normal School, and also within ten years, a second 
Normal School, and within fifteen years, a third, provided, that there shall be no 
obligation to establish either of the three schools, until the sum of five thousand 
dollars is donated to the State in money and lands, or in money alone, for the 
erection of the necessary buildings, and for the support of the professors or teach- 
ers in such institution; tiut when such sum is donated for such purpose, a like sum 
of five thousand dollars is appropriated by the State, for the use and benefit of 
such Institutions. 

At this first meeting of the Board, the citizens of Winona offered 
through the Director of that District, a subscription of about 
$1,000 to the State, provided that a State Normal School should 
be located there. This liberal proffer was accepted by the Board, 
and the first State Normal School was located at Winona, on con- 
dition the subscription was satisfactorily made over to the State, 



37 

for the use contemplated in tlie Act, A committee was appointed 
to secure this donation, and to report at a subsequent meeting. 
At the next meeting of the Board, held November 9th, 1859, this 
committee reported that they had secured this donation of $5,000 
and upwards, and on account of the urgent need of such institu- 
tion, immediate steps were taken to organize the School. The 
Legislature of 1859-60, passed an Act deferring the opening of 
the two other schools for a period of five years. A variety of cir- 
cumstances prevented the employment of a Principal until the 
summer of 1860. 

At an adjourned meeting of the Board, held June, 1860. Prof. 
John Ogden, of Columbus, Ohio, was employed as Principal of the 
School for one year from July 1, 1860. 

The months of July and August were employed by the Princi" 
pal, by direction of the Board, in visiting as many important local- 
ities as possible in the State, and presenting the necessity of Nor- 
mal Schools to the permanent prosperity of the State, and the de- 
sirableness of the citizens demanding competent teachers for their 
children. The School was opened for the admission of pupils on 
the first Monday of last September. A Teacher's Institute, the 
first ever held in this State, was made the commencement of the 
term. A goodly number of teachers, from various parts of the 
State, were present, and a number of distinguished gentlemen, 
including the Rev. E. D. Neill, Chancellor of the University, ex- 
officio Superintendent of Public Instruction in Minnesota, Ex. Lt. 
Gov. HoLCOMBE, J. W. Taylor, Esq., Eev. Mr. Strong, and many 
others. A large number of letters were received and read, from 
the Principals of other Normal "Schools, and other noted educators 
throughout the country. On the evening of the first day, Prof. 
Ogden gave his Inaugural Discourse. On the evening of the sec- 
ond day Superintendent Neill delivered an address on education, 
iutended to have been the opening address, both of which were 
listened to by large and appreciative audiences The proceedings 
of the Institute, in brief, and the addresses, will be found in this 
pamphlet and will well repay a most attentive perusal. 

OPENING OF THE SCHOOL. 

The School opened with a much larger number of pupils than 
had been expected. The names, ages and residences, will be found 



38 

appended. The City of Winona, for the purpose of accommodating 
the School, erected a hall in a central and convenient part of the 
City, containing one large school-room, one recitation room, a 
library room, and a suitable cloak room, and offered the same, 
without charge, to the Prudential Committee, until more perma- 
nent arrangements could be affected. This liberal offer has been 
accepted, although the present number of pupils, and even more, 
may be well accommodated. From indications in all parts of the 
State, these rooms will soon be too crowded, and the necessities 
of the School will demand a suitable and permanent Normal Build- 
ing. 

GOVERNMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 

" The Normal Board are authorized and empowered to contract 
for the erection of all buildings connected with the State Normal 
Schools, to appoint all professors or teachers in such institutions ; 
to prescribe the course of study, and requisites for admission, 
and in general to adopt all needful rules for the government of 
such schools. " See Sec. 9, Normal School Act. 

CONDITIONS -FOE THE ADMISSION OF PUPILS. 

1. Applicants must be at least sixteen years of age, and must present satisfac- 
tory evidence to the Prudential Committee and Principal, of good moral charac- 
ter, bodily health, and adaptation to the office of teacher. 

2. They must sustain a satisfactory examination in reading, writing, spelling, 
geography, and arithmetic, to the end of rules lor interest, and so much of Eng- 
lish grammar as to be able to analyze and parse any ordinary prose sentence. 

3. They must declare their intention to teach in the public schools of the State 
at least two years. 

4. Two pupils may be received from each Senatorial District existing at the 
time of the passage of the bill for Normal Schools, application having been made 
to the Prudential Committee and Principal, at least two weeks before the com- 
mencement of the term. If, at the opening of the school, there are any vacancies 
in any Senatorial District, the same may be filled by other applicants. 

5. Should the number not thus be filled by those who may pledge themselves 
to teach two years in the State, the vacant seats may be occupied by students, 
without such pledge, upon the payment of tuition; eight dollars in advance for the 
short term, and ten dollars in advance for each of the long terms. 

6. Pupils once admitted to the school, will be entitled to its privileges for the 
scholastic year, unless they forfeit that right by voluntary absence (except by tem- 
porary absence, while teaching the common schools in the State) by improper con- 
duct, or by failing to exhibit good evidence of scholarship, and fair promise of suc- 
cess as teachers. 



89 

PRIVILEGE OF PUPILS. 

All pupils under the State apportionment receive their tuition 
free, and at a small charge are allowed the use of such text books 
as they may need, and are thus relievedtfrom the necessity of pur- 
chasing. The use of all needful apparatus will be free. 

TEXT BOOKS AND LIBRARY. 

The text books will be the same as those recommended by the 
State Superintendent to the public schools. The library text and 
reference books already number fifteen hundred volumes, to which 
additions will be made from time to time, as may be required. 
Donations of books of a suitable character, in any department of 
literliture, will be thankfully received and appropriately acknowl- 
edged. 

DISCIPLINE. 

" No school can be efficient or profitable without a perfect state 
of discipline. Good order must necessarily be regarded as the 
primary condition of all effective instruction. The government of 
the Normal School will be such, as to afford a model worthy of 
imitation in the public schools of the State. It will be firm and 
impartial, and yet such as to appeal to the self-respect of the pu- 
pil. Prompt dismissal will follow all immoral acts and unteacher- 
like deportment. " 

TERMS AND VACATIONS. 

The school year shall consist of forty weeks, and shall be divid- 
ed into three terms. 

The first term shall begin on the first Monday of September, and 
continue ten weeks. 

The second term shall begin on the third Monday of November 
and continue fifteen weeks. 

The third term shall commence on the third Monday of March, 
and continue fifteen weeks. 

There will be no school exercises on Christmas, New Year's Day, 
Thanksgiving Day, and Fourth of July. On Washington's Birth- 
day, persons will be appointed by the Prudential Committee and 
Principal, to read extracts from Washington's Farewell Address, 
and deliver a suitable address. ' 



40 

Classes and course of studies. 

The School will be classified into three classes, viz : the Junior, 
the Middle and the Senior classes. The course of study will be as 
follows : 

JUNIOR CLASS. 

First Term. — Reading and Spelling, "Word Exercises, Parts of Speech, Arithmetic, 
Oral, Intellectual and Written, Descriptive Geography, Map Drawing and Penman- 
ship. ' 

Second Term. — Reading and Spelling, Simple Analysis of Sentences, Arithmetic, 
Oral, Intellectual and Written, Political Geography, Map Drawing and Penman- 
ship. 

Third Term. — Reading and Spelling, Phonetic Analysis, Arithmetic, Intellectual 
and Written, English Grammar and Composition. 

MIDDLE CLASS. 

First Term. — Reading and Etymological Analysis, Mathematical and Physical 
Geography, Meteorology, Algebra, Higher Arithmetic and Book-Keeping. 

Second Term. — Natiu-al Philosophy and Astronomy, History of the United States, 
Higher Analysis of Language, Algebra continued. Geometry commenced. 

Third Term. — ^Natural History and Botany, Rhetoric, Rules of Construction and 
Criticism, Geometry and Science of Education. 

SENIOR CLASS. 

First Term. — History and Constitutional Law, Algebra completed, English Lan- 
guage and Literature, Geometry and Trigonometry, Teaching in Model School. 

Second Term. — Intellectual Philosophy, Human and Comparative Physiology, 
Practical Chemistry, Geology, School Laws, Practice in Model School. 

Third Term. — Intellectual Philosophy and Logic, Moral Philosophy and Natural 
Theology, Study of School Systems and Practice in Model School. 

EXAMINATIONS AND DIPLOMAS. 

The Normal Directors in any Normal District, with the State 
Superintendent, shall be special visitors of the Normal School, and 
they together, or by one or more of their number, or by some com- 
petent person or persons of their appointment, shall visit and ex- 
amine such school at least two days each session, for ascertaining 
the mode of instruction, and the progress of the pupils, and for 
promoting the best welfare of such institution, and the Common 
Schools of the State. At the close of the examination, at the end 
of the third term, such pupils as are found to have completed the 
full course of study, will receive a Diploma, certifying to the fact, 
and that they are all well qualified to enter upon the duties of the 
teacher, signed by the President and Secretary of the Board and 



41 

Principal of the School. An exhibition will also be held during 
commencement week. 

VISITATION. 

The School is at all hours open for visitors, and School Trustees, 
Teachers, and the friends of education generally, are cordially 
invited to visit it at their convenience. 

INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. 

The small charge of one dollar is made for each pupil, to be paid 
at the commencement of each term. 

BOARD. 

The price of board in private families, varies from $2 to $3 per 
week, including x'oom. For those desirous of boarding themselves, 
rooms can be had at a moderate charge. 

MODEL SCH(fOL. 

Practice in the art of teaching and governing schools, will be 
secured for the pupils, at the earliest possible period, by the organ- 
ization of a Model School. 

teachers' INSTITUTES. 

A portion of the vacations will be devoted by the Professors of 
the School, in connection with the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, to holding Institutes and Educational Conventions in 
various parts of the State. 

The Prudential Committee of the Board reside in Winona, and 
are — 

Dr. J. D. Ford, 
Rev. D. Burt, 
Wm. S. Drew, Esq. 



INSTEUCTOES 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 

WINONA. 



JOHN f)GDEN, A. M. 



TUTOR, 

J: W. STEARNS, A. B. 



D. B. EEID, M.D., F. R. S. 



OF 
FIRST TERM. 



Orson P. Clinton, 20, NortMeld. Rice. 

Joseph D. Ford, 19, Winona, Winona, 

H.P. Ilubbell 19, " , " 

P. G. Hubbell...... 16, " " 

David D. Kimball, 24, " •' 

George W. Knox, 18, " " 

Silas Newcomb, 38, Faribault, Rico. 

Rolin C'. Olin, 22, Northfield, " 

Levi E. Pond, 24, Utica, Winona. 

S. Thompson Robinson,. ..18, , Winona,... " 

Melville A. Tucker,... ...19, Rochester, Olmsted. 

Gilbert R. Tucker, 19, Winona, Winona, 

LADIES. 

NAME. AGE. TOWN. COUNTY. 

Sarah A. Bartlett, 32, Winona, Winona. 

Mary E. Cossgrove, 22, Utica, " 

Lizzie F. Evans, 20, Dover, .Olmsted. 

Sarah A. Evans,. 22,. '• " 

Ada M. Harrington, 17, Winona, Winona. 

Esther K. Howe, 16, " " 

Anna Mallery, 15, " " 

Fanny A. Moss, 18, " " 

MaryE. Rice 21, New Boston, " 

Stella M. Shepard, 17, Winona,... " 

Nellie E. Slocum, 18, " •' 

Nellie M. Temple, 15, New Boston, " 

Elizabeth F. Thorne, 24, St. Paul, Ramsey. 

Rebecca M. Thorne, 21, ". " " 

Mary E. Train,.., 15, ., Winona,. Winona. 

WeltheR Tucker, 22, " " 

Mary E. Winters, 17, " <• 

M. L. Worthington, 17, " ... . " 

AnnaM. White, ,....25, " " 



^romMitgs of % Sedjers' liistifaite, 

On September Fourth and Fifth, 1860, in connection loith the o'jpening of 
the State Normal School, Winona. 



The members of the Normal School met at the Presbyterian 
Church, on Tuesday morning to organize, in connection with all 
those interested in the subject of education, a Teachers' Institute. 
The citizens being somewhat tardy in coming in, and those whose 
presence was necessary to a permanent organization not yet 
having- arrived, Prof. Ogden, occupied the attention of the School, 
touching in a general manner, the design of the Normal School, 
and the object of education. He showed, forcibly, that the object 
of education was not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but 
the development of the whole character of the individual, physi- 
cally, educationally, morally and religiously. He then spoke of 
the relations of such a School to the wants of the rising genera- 
tion ; of the sufficiency of the educational supply to that want, if 
the mode of applying it were perfectly understood. The Normal 
School proposes to teach the method of applying the supply to the 
demand. 

A short recess was then had, after which a sufficient number 
was present to effect an organization, by the appointment of Ex-Lt. 
Gov. HoLCOMBE, as President, and A. M. Chadwick, Secretary. 
Upon taking the chair, the President indulged in some appropriate 
remarks upon the early interest exhibited in Minnesota, and the 
prominent position she had taken in the great educational move- 
ments of the age. He adverted to the fact that the early and high 
stand taken by this State, had aroused the admiration and stimu- 
lated the educational enterprises of the older States. His remarks 
were eloquent and well received. From so promising a beginning, 
he argued a bright future for Minnesota. 



45 

Rev. E. D. jSTeill followed with a short speech, touching' on the 
educational policy, and referring in a particular manner, to the 
interest manifested by the citizens of Winona, in the Normal 
School enterprise. 

Mr. Taylor, of St. Paul, succeeded Mr. Neill. He went into a 
general review of the Teachers' Institutes, to show their import- 
ance as a means of awakening public interest and directing it 
toward the school system. He alluded to their success in the 
older States, and in Ohio, especially. 

Mr, Burt, from the Prudential Committee, was called upon for 
some remarks. Mr. Burt thought that Mr. Taylor had slightly 
misconceived the nature of a Teachers' Institute. He made it too 
prominent a feature. He argued that the Normal School would 
remove the necessity of a Teachers' Institute, as it was a thorough 
and systematic course of drill for the same object for which that 
was established. He said that his observations, in visiting schools, 
had developed the fact of a sad deficiency in our teachers and 
schools, the natural consequence of an ineflicient school system, 
and incompetent teachers. A disinclination to the use of the dish- 
cloth and the axe, furnished a large portion of the common school 
teachers. 

Dr. Ford, of the Normal Board, being called upon by the Presi- 
dent, said, that his friend, Mr. Taylor, had observed that it was 
necessary for him to be full of a subject to talk upon it, but there 
are subjects and occasions, when the deep interest involved in the 
one, and the importance of the other, press so heavily, that it is 
difficult to speak. So it is the reverse with me from Mr. Taylor, 
and not being a talking man, I find speaking in such cases, a more 
difficult task. The subject of education, is one of deep interest to 
me. Prom childhood, I have almost always, been connected in 
some relation, with the cause, either as pupil, teacher, or as a 
member of Boards of Education. 

Some four years since, I became a resident of this city. Then 
there was not a common school here, nor, indeed, any other that 
deserved the name. Born and bred in New England, I could not 
call myself a citizen of a town where there were no schools. An 
energetic and successful effort was made to organize free schools 
on the graded system, which meets with universal favor. 

A little more than a year since, impressed with its great import" 



46 

ance, I made an attempt to secure a Normal School to this part ol 
the State, and to-day have witnessed the incipient steps in its 
organzation. 

We here plant the tree, which, if well done, and if the proper 
support and care is extended to it, shall, with the blessing of 
Heaven, thrive, and throw out its sheltering branches, and shall 
give true health and life to those who may enjoy its refreshing 
shade and its rich fruit, through all time. 

Minnesota has taken a stride in the right direction, in providing 
thus early for Normal Schools. With wise foresight her legisla- 
tors have seen, that in this remote region, competent teachers 
could be provided in no other way. In the elder States Normal 
Schools are not so much needed, and even to the present time, 
some of the original thirteen States, after years of effort, are un- 
able to secure them; while those States that have established 
thei]J, consider them of the first importance, and are making muni- 
ficent grants yearly, for their support. Where there are no Nor- 
mal Schools, the friends of education, by means of Institutes, of a 
few days, held now here, and now there, with a lecture from this 
teacher and a drill from that, with no close consecutive mental 
effort, at uncertain periods, and with indifferent success, have 
striven to educate teachers and to prepare the way for Normal 
Schools. Not that I would disparage Teachers' Institutes in the 
least. When the advantages of the Normal School cannot be en- 
joyed, their instructions are invaluable, and subserve a most use- 
ful purpose, and when there are Normal Schools, they are still 
serviceable ; but the united and concurrent testimony of the best 
educators, in this and other lands, is full and explicit, that a pro- 
fessional school for teachers in training, is a necessity. Let the 
friends of education, then, rally around this infant Institution, and 
acting upon this experience, derived from older and similar schools, 
let us with wise counsels, willing hearts and ready hands, c6-oper- 
ate in our efforts, to realize the perfect idea of a Normal School. 

Mr. Taylor wished to know how largely New England and other 
States were represented by native sons and daughters. A can- 
vass of the members showed 1*7 names from New England; 18 
from New York; 2 from Pennsylvania; 2 from Ohio; and one each 
from New Jersey and Wisconsin; and 2 from Illinois. 

Prof. Ogden suggested that the relations of Normal Schools to 



4T 

Oommon Schools, be the order for discussion for to-morrow, which 
was agreed to. 

After some necessary arrangements for the afternoon, the Insti- 
tute adjourned to meet 15 minutes before 2 o'clock, p. m. 

Afternoon Session. — The Institute met pursuant to adjournment. 
The President being absent, the Institute was called to order by 
Prof. Ogden, and opened by music; after which Mr. Tanner con- 
ducted the exercises in Arithmetic, which were both instructive 
and interesting. 

A short recess was taken, followed by a drill in Grammar, con- 
ducted by Prof. Ogden. This exercise, like the former, was highly 
instructive and interesting, and elicited a good many hints in re- 
gard to teaching Grammar. But these exercises, as well as those 
of the forenoon, should have been witnessed to be properly appre- 
ciated. At the close of the drill in grammar, the Institute ad- 
journed to meet at 9 o'clock, a. m., on Wednesday, 



On Tuesday evening, the " Opening Address, " by Chancellor 
Neill, of the State University, was delivered at the Methodist 
Church, before a large concourse of people. 

After some '-excellent remarks, appropriate to the occasion, by 
James W. Taylor, Esq., of St. Paul, and Lieut, Gov. Holcombe, the 
assembly adjourned. 



Wednesday, September 5th. 

Institute was opened with prayer and singing. Prof. Ogden 
addressed the pupils of the Normal School. Mr. Whipple, of Fari- 
bault, made a few remarks, giving an account of the schools in 
the Sandwich Islands, and the peculiarities of the Hawaiian lan- 
guage. A discussion of the question, whether the analytic or 
synthetic method should be used in teaching grammar, was parti- 
cipated in by Messrs Burt, Strong and Ogden. 



Wednesday Afternoon. — After the opening exercises. Prof. Ogden 
read the following communications from distinguished gentlemen 
and educators, of our own and other States : 



€mtBpukntt 



Letter from Isaac Atwater, Associate Judge Supreme Court. 

Minneapolis, August 30, 1860. 
Prop. J. Ogden, — 

Bear Sir : — Your favor of the 21st inst., inviting me to be present at the opening 
exercises of the Minnesota State Normal School, was duly received. I very much 
regret that my duties here, will not permit my acceptance of your kind invitation. 

But I cannot permit the opportunity to pass, without expressing the deep inter- 
est I feel in the undertaking which you have commenced. No one who has at 
heart the future welfare of Minnesota, can be indifferent to any effort made to pro • 
mote her educational interests — much less to one, which aims to lay the sure foun- 
dation for her primary schools. This is the beginning — the starting point, and it 
is all important, that we move forward in a right line towards the goal, to wit, the 
highest educational development of the State. However many institutions of a 
higher order we may possess, our common schools, after all, must be our only hope 
of diffusing the blessings of education among the people at large. It is from these 
that our academies and universities must be supplied. Here must the taste for 
learning be first implanted in the young mind, here it must be fostered and en- 
couraged, and here; ordinarily, must the impulses first be given for higher attain- 
ments. The character and tone of our common schools, will usually form a cor- 
rect index of the interest felt in the cause of education throughout the State. If 
these schools shall be of a high order, the foundations being laid deep and thor- 
oughly in the rudimental branches, the pupil will carry hig habits of thought and 
study into the academy and college, illustrating the truth of the sentiment, that 
" the boy is father to the man. " And he who undertakes the work of educating 
the teachers of a State, is engaged in a labor, that should ensure him the earnest 
co-operation and sympathy of every friend of education, both at home and abroad. 
The effects of his labor must extend to the remotest parts of our young Common- 
wealth, and be felt, it may be, upon generations to come. And to this work he 
sacrifices what most men consider the great objects of life — wealth, fame, ease and 
political distinction, finding his reward in the conscientious discharge of duty, and 
the satisfaction of knowing that he has been instrumental in placing the educa • 
tional interests of the State upon a broad and firm basis. The labor of a lifetime 
is well repaid, by success in such an aim. 

If I could be present with you, I should love to say a few words to those who 
propose to become teachers. In that field I have myself labored many years, and 
in looking back over the past, think with unceasing regret of the imperfect man- 
ner in wliich my duties as a teacher were performed, even though having the ordi- 
nary evidences of success. I would earnestly urge upon the consideration of 
teachers, the important fact, that the discipline of the scholar's mind should be 
the one great aim of instruction — that the cultivation of the memory, so that a 
perfect recitation may be made, a problem correctly demonstrated, or a sentence 
properly construed, is of small consequence unless the teacher is satisfied that the 



49 

result has been obtained by the proper exercise of the reasoning faculty. One 
principle thoroughly mastered, will be of more value to the student, in the battle 
of life, than a volume committed to memory by rote. No teacher should rest sat- 
isfied short of this, and if he earnestly aims to attain this end, he will reach a far 
higher measure of success, than one who adopts a lower standard. Such teaching „ 
is often laborious — there will be need ot patience, encouragement, hard work, and 
much of it, but the reward wiU be rich. The seeds thus deeply planted, blossom 
and bear fruit, all through the pupil's life time. 

Another point I would fain suggest, not only for the consideration of teachers, 
but of all who desire to extend the blessings of education. In every neighborhood, 
and almost every district school, will be found more or less youth, who evince 
such a desire for study, such an aptness and facility in acquiring knowledge, as 
render it evident they would appreciate and rightly improve the advantages of a 
liberal education. But they are often the children of parents of limited means 
and have not dared to hope such a boon is possible to be attained. Take such 
kindly by the hand, and speak to them words of encoui'agement and cheer. Tell 
them that the most thorough education that can be afforded by the best college in 
the country is within their reach — even all unaided and alone though they be. 
Nothing more is needed to attain it, save an indomitable will, close economy, and 
untiring industry. And in this connection I may remark, that I was greatly 
pleased with one clause of your circular, viz: that •'•ample accommodations can 
be made for those who may wish to board themselves. " In this country where the 
means of living are so cheap and abundant, every youth who is willing to submit 
to the trouble and inconvenience of boarding Mmself, may easily obtain the 
means through his own exertions, and a little assistance of friends, to prosecute 
Ms studies. And such are the students who always win the race in competing 
for literary honors — who always win the victory in the battle of after life. I 
could prove it by innumerable instances which have fallen under my own observa- 
tion. And I hope to see scores, nay hundreds, of this class availing themselves of 
the advantages offered by the State Normal School, and who having there tasted 
the pleasant waters of the Pierian spring, shall long for still deeper draughts, at 
higher fountains. 

Much more the occasion suggests, but it is not necessary to enlarge, as the 
thoughts that occur to my mind, will be much more forcibly presented by the dis- 
tinguished gentlemen who are to participate in the opening exercises. With my 
earnest wishes that the highest measure of success may crown your labors in this 
enterprise so important to the educational interests of the State, I remain 

Very truly yours, 

ISAAC ATWATER, 



From Charles E. Flandrau, Associate Judge Supreme Court. 

Teateksb des Siocx, Sept. 3, i860. 

Dear Sir : — Tour note of the 21st ult., inviting me to attend the opening of the 
State Normal School, at Winona, was not received by me in time to admit the pos- 
sibnity of my being present and witnessing the very interesting ceremonies, which 
I assure you is to me a matter of regret. 

My residence in Minnesota dates from an early period in its Territorial exist- 
ence, and I have always felt a deep interest in its educational progress and pros- 
pects, which I am proud to say have always been zealously and liberally encour- 
aged and sustained by her individual citizens, and the authoi'ities to whom they 
have been entrusted. 

Heretofore all efforts in this direction have been confined to the education of the 
youth of the State, with reference to qualifying them generaUv for the varied pur- 
7 



60 

suits of business life, and not with special regard to their becoming in their turn, 
the instructors of those who were to follow them. So long as this system should 
exclusively obtain, we would necessarily have to depend in a great measure upon 
irresponsible adventurers to perform the most important and delicate of all duties, 
the cultivation of our youth. The inauguration of the Normal School system 
among us, will soon remove this evil, and will elevate the office of the teacher to 
the high standard, and position among the learned professions, which the vast in- 
fluence it exerts upon society entitles it to occupy. 

Early impressions with States, as with individuals, are the most readily impart- 
ed and received^ and are also the most difficult to be eradicated. It should there- 
fore be a source of pride and gratification with every citizen of Minnesota, that 
in her infancy, her educational interests are receiving such enlightened encourage- 
ment and direction. 

In sincerely wishing you success, I but speak the sentiments of an intelligent 
people; and in awarding you the plaudits of a grateful posterity, I but anticipate 
what I feel confident you will receive in reward for this beneficent undertaking. 
With much respect, 

I am your ob't servant, 

CHAS. E. FLANDRAU. 

Mb. John Ogden, 

Principal State Normal School, Winona. 



From Governor Ramsey. 

State of Minnesota, Executive Office, ) 
Saint Paul, August 31, 1860. \ 

Prof. John Ogden, 

Principal Normal School, Winona, — 

DearSir: — ^Mr. Neill leaves on to-morrow to join in your exercises, and if the 

press of business, which usually occurs about the beginning of each month, will 

allow of my absence, I will be with you on Tuesday. Mr. Taylor will probably 

accompany me. 

With the best wishes for the success of your very excellent enterprise, I remain, 

Truly yours, 

ALEX. RAMSEY. 



From Cyrus Aldrich, Meniber of Congress. 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, ! 
August 29, 1860. f 

John Ogden, Esq., 

Principal State Normal School, Winona, Min., — 

My Dear Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your polite invi- 
tation to be present at the opening exercises of the State Normal School, on the 
third prox. I have put off replying to your letter, hoping to be able to accept; 
but, sir, owing to the severe indisposition of one of my children, I am reluctantly 
constrained to inform you that I cannot possibly be present. 

Be assured, sir, it would afibrd me very great pleasure to be present on an occa- 



51 

eion of so much interest. I am highly gratified to know that our people and our 
State are thus early, doing so much for the noble cause of education. 
I am Sir, very respectfully, 

Your ob't servant, 

CYRUS ALDRICH. 



From Dr. A- E. Ames, Director of Kormal School, 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, J 
August 27th, 1860. ) 

John Ogden, A. M. — 

Dear Sir : — Yours of the 2lst inst., inviting me to be present at the opening ex- 
ercises of the Minnesota State Normal School, was received a day or two since, I 
am sorry to say, it will not be possible for me to attend. 

I feel a very deep interest in the School. It is what the State must have. No 
system inside of that of State government, is of so much importance, as that of 
education. The best way to elevate the standard of education and make it the 
most effective, is to have good teachers — those that understand the branches to be 
taught — the best manner of applying them to the minds of the scholars — and how 
to govern a school. Such cannot be had in this country, without having a train- 
ing school for teachers. Such a system you are now about to start. Every per- 
son that loves his country and its educational character, will no doubt second your 
efforts. 

Our young and promising State has lent its aid, and I have no doubt hereafter 
will support the School in a liberal^ manner. 

There is no country that promises more to its inhabitants than this — Its soil hag 
great capabilities — Its healthy climate and its wide extended fertile plains, pleas- 
ant groves and lakes will assist in enlarging the mind and building up well devel- 
oped physical systems for our people. No better country can be found upon the 
earth. Add to these qualities, an advantageous system of teaching so as to clothe 
the mind of the rising generation with liberal knowledge, characteristic of the 
face of this new land, then the future will evidence a satisfactory result. My 
heart and hand are with you in this great work. 

Respectfully yours, 

A. E. AMES. 



From the Principal of the New Jersey Normal School. 

State op New Jersey, Departm't Pde. Instruction 



Normal School, Trenton, August 31, 1860. 



n 



John Ogden, Esq., 

Principal, &c. — 

My Dear Sir : — Will you permit me, in response to your kind invitation, to con- 
gratulate you, and through you your Executive Board and the people of Minne- 
sota, upon the establishment in your young and growing State, of a Normal 
School, for the professional training of teachers. 

This event is one of too great significance to be allowed to pass by in oblivious 
silence; for the schools of a nation are the arbiters of its destiny. From them 
must go forth the influences, either good or evil, that are decisive of its fate. 



52 

Whatever, therefore, you would have the nation to be, whether great and glorious 
and free, or degenerate and corrupt and enslaved, that you must malce it to be, 
through its schools, and especially through its Common Schools. 

But it is the 3Iaster that makes or mars the school. The school must inevitably 
reflect the character, intellectual, social and moral, of its teacher. The great prob- 
lem of our national character and destiny, whether of anarchy or good order, 
whether of peace, prosperity, purity, justice and freedom, or of disaster, corrup- 
tion, injustice and ignoble bondage, is confided for solution to the nation's teach- 
ers. If you will allow me to elect the teachers of your schools, I care not who 
elects your Governors and your Presidents. With a people made noble and gen- 
erous by refined and virtuous culture. Governors and Presidents are powerless for 
evil. With noble and patriotic men, with such citizens as are generated by good 
schools conducted by able teachers, the instinct of national pride and national 
self-preservation is stronger than all the seductions of place or power, stronger 
than life itself. Of such it is truly affirmed : '' Dulce eitpropatria mori. " 

The strength and purity of our government must ever depend upon the univer- 
sality of this sentiment of patriotism in the hearts of the people. 

But, as I have shown, the teachers must make the schools, and the schools must 
make the justice -loving, law-abiding, patriotic citizens of the Republic. I have 
only to add that our Normal Schools must make our teachers, to complete the colloca- 
tion, and to demonstrate the transcendent importance of the movement with which 
the generous people of Minnesota are about so signally and generously to identify 
themselves. I ask you, sir, and I ask them, in view of these circumstances, 
whether these primary schools for teachers may not be literally declared to be the 
" Fathers of the Republic; " or whether as representing and instilling those deep- 
er, purer, holier sentiments and affections which in the life of nations, as well as 
of individuals, are so potent in the determination of ch'aracter and destiny, and 
which can issue alone from the maternal heart may not they, then, with even 
greater propriety, be denominated the Mothers of the Republic ? 

And, as with the individual, the affection of the maternal parent survives even 
after all other loves have decayed and perished, so let our people ever cherish and 
support and encourage these conservators of the national life, as their great hope 
for a national resurrection and redemption from that corruption, anarchy and mis- 
rule which are the sure precursors of decay and death. 

Permit me, dear sir, to bid you and your worthy co-workers in the Board of 
Management, a hearty God speed in the arcfuous task committed to your hearts, 
your heads and your hands. And to the people of your patriotic State, be it said, 
that in the inauguration of this Normal School movement, you have initiated the 
most important event in the history of your Commonwealth. If you cherish and 
liberally support tJwt, as at once the head and heart of your common school sys- 
tem, no serious calamity can befall you, because so long as you do this your body- 
politic will continue " a perennial principle of I'estoration. " 

Yours very truly, 

WM. F. PHELPS. 



From Ohio State School Commissioner. 

Office State School Commissioxkb, ^ 
Columbus, O.J Sept. 3, I860. j 
Mr. John Ogden, — 

My Bear Sir .-—On coming to my oflSce this morning, after long absence in at- 
tending Institutes, I find yom' favor of the 22d ult. 
I am happy to hear of the fair prospects of the Institution of which you are the 



53 

chosen Principal. I trust that great success will attend your efforts; and I know 
that you will deserve success. Though I regret your removal from Ohio, I rejoice 
that your new field of labor will be blessed by your entrance upon it. 
Excuse so brief a note, for I find my table loaded with letters waiting answers. 

Truly yours, 

ANSON SMYTHE. 



■\ 



From Supt. Public Schools, of City of Chicago. 

Office of Supt. of Public Schools 
Chicago, Sept. 3, 1860. 
JqHN Ogden, Esq., 

Principal Minnesota State Normal School : — 

My Dear Sir: — I regret that it is not in my power to be present at the opening 
exercises of your institution. 

Franklin, in his thirst for knowledge, expressed a regret that he had not been 
born after the world had made another century of progress. We are permitted 
to rejoice in the possession of that which he so much desired, and it is the proud 
distinction of our generation, that attention has been directed in a very marked 
degree to improvements in the science and art of education. We have seen the 
dim and flickering light of the first Normal School established in the Old Bay 
State, and we have lived to see Normal Schools spring up and flourish in nearly 
all the Northern States of the Union, and in several Southern States. _ And now, 
the very border State, Minnesota, in a spirit of enlightened liberality that is 
- worthy ol all praise, and as one of her first important measures, has established 
this central educational light — a State Normal School. 

It is no longer a question whether Normal Schools are needed. The demand 
for teachers educated at these schools is rapidly increasing from one end of the 
country to the other, and declaring most emphatically, that teachers must be educated 
for their work. He who enters the school room and assumes the guidance and 
direction of the minds and hearts of children, without first studying his profes- 
sion, is an experimenter and not a scientific and trustworthy educator. 

If the West has received important lessons from the East, she has also shown 
herself capable of emitting light that is not borrowed, and she may yet prove her- 
self competent to impart valuable lessons to her teachers. 

It is time that the West should realize and exercise her own strength; standing 
as she now does, on the threshold of ages, that are to cover these prairies with 
untold millions, it is meet that she should feel the responsibility of laying wisely 
and firmly the foundations of her educational structure. 

The voice of coming generations calls to us to-day, and demands that we weigh 
well the question, who are to be the teachers that shall mould the character and 
decide the destiny — not of the West alone, but through her, it may be, of our 
great American Republic. 

Minnesota, young as she is, occupies a position at this forming period in the his- 
tory of States, that makes her emphatically one of the empire states of the Union. 

God speed you, my brother, in the great and responsible work to which you 
have been called. Illinois expects much of your institution, and I am confident 
she will not be disapjDointed. 

Yours very truly, 

W. H. WELLS. 



64 

fi-om Robert Allyn, late School Commissioner of Rhode Island. 

"Wesletan Female College, ) 
Cincinnati, 0., August 26, 1860. f 

John Ogden, A. M., 

Principal State Normal School, Winona, Min. :— 

Dear Sir: I received your kind note and circular, inviting me to be present at the 
opening exercises of your Normal School, to take place on the third of September. 
I am not able to say how much I should delight to be with you. To the pleasure 
of meeting a dear friend and participating in the delightful exercises of opening a 
fountain of truth and discipline, would be added the joy of looking upon your 
streams and prairies destined to be the homes of the most energetic part of our 
nation. Such a journey on such an occasion would be a great pleasure, and one to 
be remembered for a life time. But our College opens on that same day, and I 
could not possibly be spared. I must therefore deny myself and be content to 
write a word or two. 

Normal Schools for the training of teachers, though a somewhat modern institu- 
tion, are far more a necessity than a convenience. They are to be reckoned in the 
same catagory of schools for training lawyers, physicians and clergymen in the 
details of very laborious and useful professions. The profession of teaching is 
certainly not less important than these others named, for it is a common basis for 
all the others. It is clearly not less difficult. And surely it has laws as easily 
discovered and systematised and applied as any other profession, or in fact as any 
science. It has been by far too common among teachers and educators to consider 
ours a profession based on no well ascertained and settled principles, but as being 
established only on whims. It is fortunate that men are now thinking very differ- 
ently, and schools for instructing teachers and books attempting to classify the 
laws of mind,, and to afford rules for the cultivation of the young mind, are get- 
ting to be common. We need to study the best means of teaching children how 
to learn, how to govern themselves, and how to acquire power to do all duty. 
The race needs to be taught how to make its youth love truth, and speak and act 
it. And how can we learn these things without a teacher. And how can we have 
that teacher withot a school and a specific work set apart for him ? 

I am therefore very glad that the young State of Minnesota has made it a part 
at least, of her mission to do something in this great work. I trust she will per- 
severe in it regardless of all opposition, and while I trust she will rigidly econom- 
ize, I also hope she will be liberal enough to make the experiment both successful 
and honorable. And if it shall be found that only a part of the teachers of the 
State shall be educated in this school, still the benefit will be great, and by the ex- 
ample of these it will be widespread. And if a large number thus taught in this 
school shall not continue in the technical sense in the profession of schoolteaching, 
but shall assume other duties, becoming merchants or lawyers or wives, the State 
will not have thereby lost her labor and expense. For, by this very disposition 
of those who are trained to be teachers, into all the ranks of life where they will 
become parents and citizens the best benefits of Normal School discipline and 
knowledge will be still more widely scattered. Besides, the few thus educated, if 
made, as I am sure they will be, truly alive, must carry the fire of such a life all 
through your State, and kindle it at almost every fireside. 

But I cannot find time to say what I want to say, and must therefore close by 
uttering the wish, that your enterprise may continue to receive, as I know it will 
deserve, the patronage of your noble young State, and especially that it and you, 
my dear friend, may be guided and abundantly blessed by the great Author and 
Giver of Wisdom. May your opening exercises be pleasant and your school be 
filled with earnest classes of pupils, and may they be favored with health and 



55 

sound minds, and with that dependence on Divine Grace which alone can fit them 
for the holiest calling of earth. 

I am, my dear sir, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

ROB'T ALLYN. 



After the correspondence was read, Ex-Lieut. Gov. Holcombe 
made a few closing remarks. He said lie had been much pleased 
with the exercises of the Institute, and would carry away with 
him a pleasing recollection of his visit to Winona. 

A resolution of thanks to the citizens of Winona for the hospi- 
tality they had so heartily and cheerfully extended to those from 
abroad, was unanimously passed, after which the Institute ad- 
journed sine die. 



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